Together
by Fawn of the woods
Summary: Something is troubling Leonard. Spock tries to puzzle it out and learns more about his mate's past than he knew before. Surrounds Bread and Circuses Episode. Part of my McSpock Series so read at least the 1st story for background (Across the Distance)


You can find all my McSpock on AO3 under the ssame screen name. They are getting updated faster right now.

Disclaimer: me own nothing

 _ **Chapter 1 Communication**_

Leonard H McCoy was the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Enterprise. He was a passionate doctor with strongly held moral principles. He was also in a terrible mood.

Christine huffed as she ducked out of sick bay on her break. Her boss was a trying person to work for at times, but usually his heart was in the right place. Most of the time she could trace his foul mood to the loss of a patient or the bearer of extraordinarily bad news. Since neither was the case here, in fact Sick had been quite empty all day, she was turning to the other common explanation, their first officer.

Only a few people on the ship knew that they were mates, but most had at this point guessed at least that they were close friends if nothing more. The rumor was that they debated in Spock's quarters every night until late. Christine had needed to leave the room when she heard that one. She'd barely made it to the hall before giving in to the urge to laugh. She was sure they debated, but she doubted that was foremost on their minds at night.

Every now and again they would have an actual disagreement, usually Doctor McCoy would lose his temper and say something he didn't mean. Then he would grouch around for a bit before apologizing. The medical staff had learned to stay out of his way when this happened. They'd learned to stay even further from Spock. The man might be the very definition of emotionless most of the time, except when it came to either the captain or his mate. Watching him grit his teeth was a sure sign that any blatant 'human-ness' was going to be met with less than tolerant criticism.

Stepping onto the bridge, Christine reminded herself why she was braving that scathing wit. Doctor McCoy had nearly taken of an orderly's head for giggling. Usually he said laughter was the best medicine so any medical professional without a sense of humor was missing half their arsenal. If it was martial, she wanted to know so she could reassure the staff. Being head nurse with Doctor McCoy as a boss had meant being a buffer between her sometimes crass CMO and the rest of the medical staff.

She looked over to the side to see the familiar scene of a Vulcan scanning away at the approaching system. They were on a search mission and those always made their senior officers protective of the crew. As if it reminded them that someday someone might be sent to search for them because someone found the wreckage of the Enterprise like they had found the Beagle two hours ago. Noting briefly the lack of urgent activity on the bridge, she decided that professionally it was safe to interrupt Commander Spock.

"Mr Spock?" A twitch of the shoulder said he had heard her and was simply finishing his thought before turning to her.

"Nurse?" His head was cocked in curiosity. He seemed amiable enough. She fumbled a moment before handing him the weekly medical report. He glanced at it in confusion. Usually McCoy used it as an excuse to haunt the bridge and sometimes engage in mental aerobics, as he called it, with Spock. If he couldn't take the time, it usually meant sick bay was swamped in which case Christine couldn't either and they would send it up with a yeoman.

"The weekly medical report, sir." He stared at it. She could see his mind turning over possible reasons for her presence. She hoped her boss didn't pitch too big a fit when he discovered she had delivered it. She hadn't exactly made sure he heard her.

"Thank you, Nurse." He was looking mildly perplexed as he glanced between the report and her. She was careful to maintain a blankly calm face. McCoy's absence was enough of a mystery without adding her emotions to the mix. She nodded and turned away, both satisfied she had roused her boss's mate's curiosity and worried, because she was now at a loss to explain her superior's actions.

000

He hadn't been back in his own quarters much recently. Being Spock's mate meant he spent most of his at-home time in Spock's quarters, not his, but today he went there. He probably owed his staff an apology. He'd try to dredge one up tomorrow. It wasn't their fault he'd royally screwed up ten years ago. He sighed and reached over for the picture. At least she was smiling in the picture. She hadn't smiled like that for him in years.

Sighing, he placed the picture face down on the bed and sat next to it, head in his hands. Every year it was the same thing. This year hurt even worse.

The door chime interrupted his descend into self pity. Sighing heavily, he prayed for patience and called for whoever it was to come in. The purposeful stride of his Vulcan first officer annoyed him. So did his assessing gaze and his curious frown. He also remembered irately, that the first officer was on duty.

"What do you need, Spock?" Even he could tell that his voice was testy, but he was in no mood for a battle of wits right now. That damn eyebrow went up.

"I came to inquire on your health, Doctor." He looked up at the half Vulcan.

"Are you becoming a Doctor now, Mr Spock?" The frown became more pronounced.

"No Doctor-"

"Then trust me to do my damn job!" He had definitely sacrificed enough to at least do that right. The cost had been the best of his life, but he had to live with it.

"Mr Spock to the Bridge." It sounded like whatever they had been looking for on this hunk of rock had been found, or at least something interesting had been found.

"How about you go do you own damn job, and I'll do mine!" Spock stared at his mate with blatant concern on his face. Usually he had to actually annoy the Doctor before the Doctor started snarling at him. This time he was at a loss. Eventually his duty won out and he nodded to the Doctor as he headed to the bridge. Privately he vowed to annoy the Doctor until whatever was truly bothering the man was shouted at him at the top of the human's lungs.

000

He gritted his teeth as he felt helpless rage slip past his shields. His friends really were not good for his emotional stability sometimes. He didn't know where the Captain was, but he did know he was there alone. Never a good sign.

He also was locked in a cell with his irate mate who had nearly died today. Though the fight had given the Doctor a much needed opportunity to let off some steam, he wasn't sure that was enough. Spock still had not discovered the cause of the human's anger and he had shielded himself off since early this morning. And it was genuine anger at this point. It might have simply started as sadness or anxiety, but by the time he had found the doctor in his quarters, it had morphed into anger. Respect for the Doctor's privacy kept him from trying for telepathic contact, but he was still well aware of his mate's anger.

He felt his own anger boil over again and he gave the bars he had been meticulously examining a shove. Aside from giving him an estimation of their strength, it also helped him diffuse some of the emotional difficulties of the situation.

"Angry, Mister Spock, or frustrated, perhaps?" He sighed. As he turned to his quiet mate.

"Such emotions are foreign to me, Doctor. I'm merely testing the strength of the door."

"For the fifteenth time." He ignored that as he resumed his study of the bars as they attached to the wall.

"Spock... Spock, I know we've had our disagreements. Maybe they're jokes….I don't know. As Jim says, we're not often sure ourselves sometimes, but what I'm trying to say is-"

"Doctor, I am seeking a means of escape. Will you please be brief." He looked at his mate. The distance between them was almost as aggravating as the bars he had been studying, but at least he didn't mind expelling adrenaline on the bars. He saw that his words, while logical, had probably not been the most tactful choice when the Doctor was embarrassed and angry at the same time.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is you saved my life in the arena." Since he had been thoroughly shouted at earlier for stating the obvious, the fact that McCoy was now doing so was annoying.

"Yes, that's quite true." He withheld the human phrase, 'what is your point?' as implied.

"I'm trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin!" Spock had never understood the need to lead into an expression of graditude, but then again the expression of graditude was similarily foreign to his culture. To quote his father, "One did not thank logic". He had learned of the concept on earth and from his mother and had generally adapted to its use and place in his life. Right now, however, the illogic of it annoyed him.

"Oh, yes. You humans have that emotional need to express gratitude. You're welcome, I believe, is the correct response." Electric blue eyes flashed at him in anger. That sentence had contained a bit more derisive frustration than normal. So much for Vulcan control. He turned away from his mate and reached for the mantra for control and to settle his disciplines. Leonard could always overwhelm his Vulcan training. Gripping his shield firmly and raising them, he felt along the bars, speaking again.

"However, Doctor, you must remember I am entirely motivated by logic. The loss of our ship's surgeon, whatever I think of his skill, would mean a reduction in the efficiency of the Enterprise and therefore-" He hadn't been expecting the doctor to touch him. Jerking him around to face the now furious man startled him into silence as his human mate hissed at him, beyond angry.

"Do you know why you're not afraid to die, Spock? You're more afraid of living. Each day you stay alive is just one more day you might slip and let your human half peek out." Spock recalled once Leonard had said he couldn't afford to get really mad. He turned away from the vitrol. His mate was out of control. The contact had flared their bond enough to know that his mate hurting. This anger that he had been courting all day was defensive and full of self loathing. Feeling that, Spock could now see it in the normally kind face and finally saw that the person Leo was trying to hurt was himself.

"That's it, isn't it? Insecurity. Why, you wouldn't know what to do with a genuine, warm, decent feeling." If he didn't stop the Doctor, he wasn't the person who was going to bleed. Spock had never met someone as capable of punishing themselves as Leonard. He needed to shock him out of his rant and back into the present. Thankfully, letting his shields fall in front of his mate was easier when they were alone. He turned back to the human.

"Really, Doctor?" He saw the uncomfortable look cross Leo's face as he became aware of just what he had been saying. He looked down flustered.

"I know. I'm worried about Jim, too." Spock turned back to the bars. He heard Leo get up and the soft scuffs of his footsteps as he walked across the cell, probably to sit again. Leaving the bars alone, and thoroughly out of ideas of what to try next, he turned back to the human. He wasn't surprised to see him hunched over his knees, head in his hands.

Rising silently he crossed the cell and knelt in front of the trembling man. He reached out and slowly pulled the hands away from the face. Bloodshot eyes told of unshed tears and he realized just how close to breaking down his mate was.

"Leo, will you not tell me what has caused your distress?" Those blue eyes darted down and the brown head leaned forward until it rested on his shoulder. He let the wrists go to reach up and take hold of the shoulders.

"I'm sorry Spock." Spock glanced at the brown hair next to his face.

"An explanation would be of more use." A shakey breath told him Leo had regained at least enough of his sense of humor to snort at that comment but not enough fortitude to respond naturally. Normally any comment on an apology or thanks was met with irritation.

"I've mentioned that I have a daughter?" Spock leaned back as Leo sat up and leaned against the wall. He was staring at his hands.

"You have."

"She graduates this year. College." Spock didn't know what to respond with, so he held his silence. Leo apparently didn't need a response anyway. "Today is her birthday."

"Every year I call. I mean besides those monthly calls you've seen me make. She lives with friends at school on Cerberus. Agricultural Botany. She wants to heal plants and help communities with food shortages. Each time I get either her mother or Jake, her boyfriend. They've been together two years, but my daughter won't even talk about marriage until she has her degree. We ran into each other at a conference on insecticides in rural communities two years ago. We talked for several hours. I thought she'd take my calls after that, but when I called a week later, she wouldn't speak with me."

"This time I asked when her graduation started so I could be there, but she doesn't want me there." Spock couldn't help but stare at the Doctor. The level of ostracizing he was describing wasn't something he had ever thought possible for a human family. Especially by a child raised by this caring man.

"I could hear her from the other room where Jake had gone to ask her. She had just screamed to leave her alone." Leo looked up at Spock, eyes bright. "My marriage was destroyed because I worked too long hours and ignored my family. That's why I'm alone. This may be one of those mistakes you simply can't fix."

"Perhaps you should go to her graduation." Leo looked at Spock.

"But-" Spock raised an eyebrow.

"She does not need to see you. However, this appears to be important to you. You should go." Leonard blinked at him. Apparently this idea hadn't occurred to him. Spock knelt on the seat and leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching.

"Also, I believe a mate is family even to a human, therefore, you do have a family. Mother and I both consider you close family and my family on Vulcan has already adopted you and would your daughter, if possible. You have a family, T'hy'la. Do not say you are alone. You no longer are alone." Leonard's wide eyes met his and in a mirror motion that spoke of their bond, they moved together.

Normally when they kissed it was a mix of lips and fingers, a salute to both cultures. This time, however, Spock trapped Leonard's wrists and drew on his excellent memory of kisses from his mate. Meticulously, he poured his telepathy into the contact between their lips as he massaged and caressed a moan out of his T'hy'la. He had known Leo's ex was a sore point, but he hadn't ever heard any details. The idea that Leo was still alone was a stain Spock wanted to wash away.

"Bohraya." He relished the name mumbled against his lips.

"Not here, T'hy'la." Not in a jail cell with Jim in unknown danger. He backed away, meeting Leo's gaze. Gently Leo freed one of his hands and lifted it to caress Spock's face. It was a habitual motion the human had developed months ago and one Spock doubted he would ever tire of. The brief sensation of telepathy and barest caress usually made his nerves tingle.

The flashing lights broke their spell and they both looked up. Spock was about to comment on electricity when Leonard yelped next to him.

"Jim!"

000

Spock watched as Leonard left the bridge. He had said something about an apology he had to make. Spock let him go. He had some research he needed to do.

It was late when Leonard came to Spock's quarters that night. He had been talking, first with his staff, then later with Christine. Spock found their friendship a curious thing. Nurse Chapel had been quite infatuated with him for some time and Leonard was his mate now. He had asked Leo once about jealousy, but Leo had simply grinned and said that they joke or commiserate over Spock. Spock had asked what about, but he had simply smiled and said exactly. Spock didn't understand, but he wasn't entirely sure this was information he needed to know either.

Spock looked up from his reading when his human came through the door. Leo had needed several weeks before he could move about Spock's quarters in the dark with relative ease. Spock knew the quarters were still too dark for Leo's human eyes to see, but Leonard scolded him whenever he tried to raise the light in the evenings, so Spock had left his mate to his devices. There was only one thing Leo couldn't do without light in Spock's quarters.

"Spock?" And that was find him. He was naturally silent and rarely in the same place two nights in a row.

"I am here." Leo stretched as he removed his blue medical shirt and dropped it in the hamper as he crossed the room and into the light of the screen.

"It's too late to be reading research reports still." Spock ignored the jab at his nocturnal habits and handed Leo a lighted PADD as he walked over to discard his own uniform. Leonard looked down at the PADD.

 _Symposium on Star Radiation on Inhabited Ecosystems_

Leo scanned the summary of the conference regarding the radiation produced by difference star types and its effect on an ecosystem. It was a fascinating topic. Reading down he read the Date, and location. The location stopped him cold.

 _Cerberus_

He read the next line to see it was a graduation schedule for Cerberus University of Science. It was the day after the end of the Symposium. They were even in the same city. Leo stared at it a moment, trying to rein in his emotions when he heard his mate comment from across the room.

"Do you wish to go? We have enough leave." He placed a hand over the graduation announcement of his daughter's class.

"Thank you, Spock." He felt strong arms come around his middle. A hot breath spoke into his ear.

"I'll verify our seats tomorrow. We can request the leave then. We'll stay a few days after." Leonard leaned back against him, eyes falling closed. The PADD was gently lifted from his hands. A strong arm pulled him back against the powerful chest.

"Bohraya…" The whisper set Spock's blood burning. He had come over to caress his mate into a blissful abandon, to take care of Leo as the Doctor took care of all of them. Yet that word made his heart pound.

"T'hy'la." One set of long fingers rose and, through the dark fabric, began to twist and pinch a male nipple. He growled in the round ear before closing his teeth around the shell. Leo moaned as his head fell backwards and his hand scrambled along Spock's waist for a grip.

One hand finally made its way up and pinched the point of an ear. A moan vibrated its way out of Spock's throat as the hand currently on Leo's stomach began moving south. The pressure on the cloth caused Leo to buck, grinding himself back against Spock's already turgid shaft. A hand gripped his wrist and together they pumped the tight cloth.

Fingers twisted in Spock's hair and he found his lips relocated to his mates. Pulling on their bond, he devoured Leo's mouth hungrily, tasting every corner of the cooler cavern with his long appendage. He felt the frantic moaning from his mate and released the much abused nipple to reach under the waist of his shorts. After be relieved of the task of fondling insanity out of Leo, the freed hand reach up to the neglected nipple, pulling at it and drawing an urgent moan from the human.

Spock could tell that Leo's arousal was telepathically pulling him along and he opened their bond wider until he felt the merging begin. Releasing the delectable mouth both to give his partner some air and to close his teeth around the thin neck bared to him.

"Bo-hra-ya!" Leo was beyond thought as Spock felt the ecstasy overwhelm him. His hand left the nipple to grip his suddenly limp mate under the arms. He nuzzled Leo's neck as the human panted in front of him, held up almost entirely by the strong arms wrapped around his middle.

"Wow…" That word was all that came out between pants as his T'hy'la's head was leaned back to rest against Spock again. "Bohraya, you are amazing." He loosened his grip and bit and Leo turned to face him. Precise hands caressed his face and he felt their bond flood with sensation. Leo leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"Come to bed."


End file.
